


Ice Queens

by KittyKait, MadameCissy



Series: Stuck In The Middle With You [4]
Category: Major Crimes (TV), The Closer
Genre: F/F, Funny, Humour, stuck together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 15:16:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10311098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyKait/pseuds/KittyKait, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameCissy/pseuds/MadameCissy
Summary: What happens when Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza have had enough of the endless bickering between the Chief and the Captain and take matters into their own hands?





	

**Author's Note:**

> You may have read some of this story before. I deleted it a long time ago and we've rewritten it and made it longer and added a few extra bits and made it part of the series. So, enjoy!

"You know just as well as I do that you can't just walk in and…"

"No, Capt'n, _you_ can't just walk in. I don't answer to you."

Brenda Leigh Johnson had placed her hands flat on her desk and leaned over it, her dark brown eyes fixed on the other woman in her office. Captain Sharon Raydor was now officially the biggest nuisance Brenda had ever come across and she wanted nothing more than to push the brunette out of her door, tell her to go stick her rules somewhere the sun doesn't shine and slam the door behind her. Unfortunately for Brenda, all three of those options would only make her problems bigger and they were already plenty big enough.

"Chief Pope told you to tread careful," Sharon reminded Brenda and shook her head in exasperation. Brenda Leigh Johnson infuriated her. She placed her hands on her hips and never took her eyes off the other woman. She could see the tension in Brenda's hands as they supported her body, saw the way her nostrils flared. The anger was palpable in the air. "The rules are there for a reason, Chief."

"If I played by the rules, I wouldn't solve half my cases," Brenda answered. "I think Chief Pope prefers it when killers go to prison instead of having them sent back onto the streets of Los Angeles."

"Chief Pope prefers it if a case actually stands up in court," Sharon slowly answered. She noticed the way Brenda flinched. She'd hit a soft spot and Sharon was well aware of it. She had spent enough time with the Chief to know where it hurt and right now, Sharon wasn't afraid to go for the jugular.

"Making' a case stand up in court is the job of the DA's office," Brenda countered. "Not mine."

"You know just as well as I do that that isn't true," Sharon objected. "And you're only saying it because you know there is a chance your case won't hold and you want to blame someone else other than the one person you really should blame." Green eyes found brown. "You."

Brenda opened her mouth to answer back to Sharon but she didn't have the words. She felt the anger course through her veins and pushed herself off her desk. She began pacing her office, hands clenched into fists and she felt Sharon's eyes burn into her back. She and Sharon had not seen eye to eye since their first meeting a little over a year ago. Since then, things had been strained at best and even just the mention of Sharon's name, Brenda would feel a rush of resentment and loathing.

"It doesn't have to be this hard, Chief," Sharon sighed, her eyes still on Brenda. "All you had to do was ask the right questions and talk to Chief Pope. Now we're risking a suspected murderer being released back into society and God only knows what will happen then." She took a step in Brenda's direction. "Are you even listening to me?"

"I stopped the moment you said everything's my fault," Brenda snapped. "Did you say anythin' after that?"

Sharon raised her hands as if in surrender. "OK. I give up. I tried to reason with you but if you insist on not listening to me, I don't know what else I can do."

Brenda watched as the older woman headed for the door. Just when she thought Sharon was leaving, the Captain turned around. "Not following the rules is going to get you into trouble one day," she warned."

Brenda snorted and raised an eyebrow. "What? With you?"

Sharon shook her head and answered, "No. With yourself."

She stepped out of the office but left the door open in her wake. Brenda watched as the brunette walked through the Murder Room and disappeared around the corner. Once she was sure Sharon was gone, Brenda exited her office too and walked over to the white board. Just before she reached it she turned to look at Provenza. She had no doubt he'd been watching her and the Captain through the window the entre time.

"Well? What did the Wicked Witch want?"

Brenda shook her head. "Nothing, Lieutenant. Get back to work."

~()~

Congregating outside the morgue wasn't exactly anyone's idea of a good time but it was the safest place in the building to have a conversation without having to worry about anyone overhearing. The lights were naturally dimmed and no one came down here unless they wanted to observe an autopsy or needed lab results. Standing in the room where they would normally put their scrubs on before entering the autopsy room, Provenza and Flynn looked at Doctor Morales.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Morales rubbed the back of his head, clearly not convinced by what the two detectives had just told him. He looked from one to the other. Nothing good ever came of something Provenza and Flynn wanted to do off the record and he had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

"They almost tore each other apart this afternoon. It's like two hungry wolves about to attack each other," Flynn answered. "One of these days, someone's going to get hurt. And the tension… You could light a damn football stadium with the electricity!"

Provenza didn't blink. "I can't stand it anymore. Either we do this or we watch them kill each other. Your choice."

Morales pursed his lips and sighed. The fact he was even considering this suggestion was shocking and he had a feeling that no matter how this was going to turn out, he was going to get into trouble. "How long for?"

Provenza shrugged and glanced at Flynn. He just pulled a face and looked back at Morales. "As long as it takes."

Morales sighed and reached for a pair of scrubs hanging on a hook on the wall. There was a body waiting for him on the table. He shot a final glance over his shoulder before entering the autopsy room and met Provenza's gaze. "OK. Fine. But on your head be it, Lieutenant."

Provenza's eyes merely twinkled and he pretended to take a bow. "By the time this is over, you will _all_ be grateful."

~()~

Brenda didn't like going to the morgue. It wasn't exactly anyone's favourite place in the world but her aversion was stronger than most. Something about the smell of death mixed with latex gloves and Vicks made her stomach turn and although she had always managed to make it through an entire autopsy without as much as gagging, she felt uncomfortable the entire time. She also wasn't used to the cool air down here and she was one of the few people who wouldn't come and find refuge down here during the hottest summer days.

"I don't know why Doctor Morales wanted us to go in here to find the body. Doesn't he have a morgue tech who usually does these kind of things?" Brenda queried as she walked into the autopsy room. Her eyes immediately drifted to the table. It was empty and clean. She could smell the disinfectant in the air but nothing could ever truly erase the stench of death.

Sharon followed Brenda inside. She was only down here because the rules specified two people had to be in the freezer at any time, just in case something happened. Morales had called for Brenda to come and help him and Sharon had been the only other person present in the Murder Room. She'd wanted to object to going but Brenda had flashed that annoyingly sweet smile and had said. "The rules say that we need two people. We can't be seen breaking the rules, can we?"

So that was why Sharon, after simply dropping off a file after yesterday's discussion, found herself approaching the large freezer in the back of the room and she shivered.

Brenda opened the door and shivered when a gust of frozen air hit her skin. She took a deep breath and stepped inside the freezer. Sharon followed and the cool air robbed her of her breath. Her heartrate quickened and she wished she'd put on an extra jacket before coming down here. Brenda seemed less fazed by the cold, or so it appeared anyway, and Sharon watched from the other end of the freezer as Brenda began to peel away the plastic wrapped around one of the dozen or so bodies on the metal tables and studied the toe tag.

"I don't understand why I have to be down here with you, Chief."

Brenda looked up. Brown eyes behind dark rimmed reading glasses fixed on the brunette FID Captain. "Got anywhere better to be, Captain?"

"No, I was actually really looking forward to spending my afternoon surrounded by dead bodies." Sharon rolled her eyes.

"It'll go a hell of a lot quicker if you actually came up here and helped," Brenda huffed. She'd checked another toe tag and again the numbers didn't match the ones she'd scribbled on the back of her hand after answering Morales' phone call. He had asked about Jane Doe 3512 in an ongoing case but his morgue assistant had gone home sick with the flu and he ow needed some help.

"There was a pile up on the highway this morning and they're bringing in the bodies soon. I… I need the freezer space so I am working my way through the Jane and John Doe's first. I'm going to have to have some of these bodies transferred to a different morgue."

Brenda had offered her assistance and now here she was, with Sharon goddamn Raydor in tow, checking out toe tags on dead, ice cold bodies.

Reluctantly, Sharon walked across the small cold space and held still by the nearest body. She pulled the plastic aside, revealing a cold and somewhat discoloured foot. The skin was a horrible shade of blue-ish grey and when her fingers grazed across the exposed skin, it felt waxy. Death truly looked and felt ugly. The numbers on the tag didn't match and she fixed her eyes on the next body.

Sharon shivered. The blue scrubs she wore over her black pinstriped suit did nothing to keep her warm and she felt the cold creep into her bones. She hadn't put on gloves and regretted that decision now, even though latex would not change anything about the temperature, it would form a fine barrier between her own hands and the cold bodies she was now touching.

Her eyes drifted back to Brenda. The Chief had kneeled down, her floral skirt fanning around her legs as she inspected yet another toe tag. It sounded like she quietly swore under her breath when she noticed the numbers didn't match. As Brenda stood up, Sharon caught a glimpse of the younger woman's calves and a jolt of electricity coursed through her body but she did not avert her eyes. When Brenda turned, her eyes found Sharon's and she was about to speak when movement behind the brunette caught her attention instead.

"What the…"

The sound of the door being closed was hollow and it fell into its lock with an almost sickening click. Light was drawn from the room instantly, leaving only the faint glow of the lightbulb over their heads.

"Shit."

Brenda looked at Sharon in confusion. Hearing the FID Captain swear was something she had not expected. Sharon had already reached the door and was trying the handle. It moved but the door did not open. Sharon tried again and again, but she soon realised it was futile. She balled her hands into a fist and rammed against the metal door. The sound carried through the freezer and the autopsy room but no answer came.

"You've got to be kiddin' me," Brenda groaned as she marched to the door. She reached for the door handle.

Sharon turned to look at her. "It's locked, Chief."

"I can see that," Brenda sharply retorted. She slammed her hand against the door, hard. She used such force that her fingers ached. "Doctor! Doctor Morales! Yoohoo! Doctor Morales?!"

Sharon stepped away from the door. She suspected that whoever closed the door hadn't heard their calls or the banging on the door, otherwise they'd have come to let them out by now. She let her eyes wander around the dimly lit room and the desire to run was strong. She had been around dead bodies plenty of times but there was something unexplainably eerie about being locked into a freezing cold room with a dozen of them. Another cold chill crept down her spine and she jumped when Brenda moved and bumped into one of the bodies, rustling the plastic.

"Do you have your phone?" Brenda inquired and Sharon's hands instinctively shot down to the pockets of her scrubs, only to remember she'd taken the device out not long after entering the morgue and leaving it on the side.

She shook her head. "You?"

Brenda snorted. Of all the days for it to happen, it had to be today. "On charge in my office."

"Very helpful, Chief."

"I'm open to any suggestions, Captain," Brenda bit back and shook her head. Of all the people to be trapped with, it had to be Sharon Raydor. Brenda found the Captain to be infuriating and insufferable but at the same time she almost relished in their stand offs, too. Sharon Raydor made her feel…. Alive. She had never worked alongside someone, if you could call it that, like Sharon.

Brenda rubbed her hands together. Her fingers were starting to feel cold and the thought of being stuck here for any length of time was very unappealing.

Sharon sat down on the floor with her back against the door and pulled her knees up to her chest. It wasn't a great attempt to keep warm but anything would do. She wrapped her arms around her knees. "If we're going to be stuck here, we might as well get comfortable."

Brenda looked at the older woman in disbelief. "Comfortable? We're stuck inside a freezer!" But she sank down to the ground anyway.

Her legs touched the cold floor and she pulled them up, the same way Sharon had, and attempted to wrap her skirt around her bare calves. She wouldn't admit it to Sharon, not by a long shot, but she'd been cold before the door closed and now the numb feeling was creeping up from her toes towards her knees. It was only when she shivered that Sharon turned to look at her.

"You ok, Chief?" she inquired.

"Fine." Brenda remained stoic and refused to make eye contact. Instead she stared at some of the plastic wrapped bodies. She tried not to think about their open eyes, the way they stared up into nothing. In fact, she tried very hard not to think about the fact they were surrounded by two dozen dead bodies at all.

Sharon pulled her scrub sleeves further down in an attempt to cover her hands. The tips of her fingers felt numb and it was as if her veins had narrowed and the blood could not get through. She was cold but she'd be damned if she was going to admit it. She had seen Brenda shiver and if the blonde wasn't going to admit she was cold, Sharon wasn't going to either. She wouldn't give the Chief the satisfaction.

"How long do you think it'll be before they realise we're gone?" Sharon wondered.

Brenda's whole squad had been out and there was no telling how long it would be before anyone came back or even noticed the two women weren't where they were supposed to be. Sharon tried to remember what was in her own diary for today but there were no meetings or other appointments that would ring alarm bells if she didn't show. She groaned inwardly.

Brenda shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Not long, I hope."

"So we're stuck here," Sharon sighed. "Literally.

"You're not the only one who isn't exactly thrilled about that, Capt'n."

Sharon shot Brenda a sideways glance. "I'm sorry to disappoint, Chief. Maybe next time you can get yourself trapped in the freezer with Lieutenant Provenza. I'm sure he'd be more entertaining."

"I'd have a hard time distinguishing him from the bodies in here," Brenda snorted. "He'd certainly be as cold as they are."

Sharon shook her head. She and Lieutenant Louie Provenza went way back and they weren't exactly friends. Ever since sending him and his former partner to sensitivity training over twenty years ago, there had been some bad blood between them. As it happened, the training was wasted on Provenza anyway and Sharon had since considered sending him again, and making him take Andy Flynn with him, but she'd come to realise that some things just couldn't be changed or fixed.

Sharon huddled a little deeper into her scrubs and tried to ignore the cold shiver creeping down her spine. Her hands were cold and she clenched and relaxed her fingers in an attempt to let the blood flow through them more easily. From the corner of her eye she noticed Brenda was rubbing the back of her legs and Sharon pitied the Chief; she had to be freezing in that skirt.

Brenda let her head fall back, groaned and then shot a sideways glance to Sharon. Something had changed in her brown eyes and she was staring at the Captain with an almost dark look. She shamelessly let her eyes trail over Sharon's frame and the intensity of the gaze made Sharon shiver.

"Come here," Brenda instructed. It was clear it wasn't a question but a command. Sharon recognised the tone. They were back to being in a hospital corridor fighting over who was in charge of the investigation involving David Gabriel. Brenda was pulling rank. Again.

Sharon looked at the younger woman and arched an eyebrow in slight contempt. They were alone here. Brenda could pull rank all she liked. Sharon wasn't just going to give in. "Excuse me?"

"Come here," Brenda repeated her request and swallowed. "Please."

She sounded like she almost choked on that last word.

"Why?" Sharon suspiciously eyed Brenda up.

"Jesus, Captain. Don't you know the best way to keep warm when in a cold environment?" Brenda exclaimed and raised her eyes to the ceiling in despair. She shook her head in disbelief before looking back at Sharon and catching her gaze. "Body heat!"

Sharon opened her mouth to answer but she was momentarily lost for words. Brenda's words sounded perfectly sensible as well as utterly ridiculous all at the same time. The thought alone…

"Are you asking me to cuddle you?" Sharon questioned, narrowing her eyes a little and her body tensed up. She then shook her head. She wasn't going to give in to this absurd idea. How did Brenda even think that was going to work?

"No way."

"Fine," Brenda stated and set her jaw. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at the wall. She was only going to make this offer once and if the stuck up Captain wouldn't accept then that was her problem. "Then freeze."

Sharon wrapped her arms a little tighter around her knees and tried not to shiver but she had no control over her body. She swore to herself that if she ever found out who was responsible for locking them in here, she was going to report them and make sure they'd be transferred to the tiniest sheriff's office in the state she could find. There was no way this was just an accident and she knew it.

She exhaled slowly and shuddered when she could see her breath form little clouds in the air. Brenda's offer suddenly felt a lot more appealing but Sharon also knew Brenda wasn't going to offer again. If she wanted to feel warmer she w0uld have to make the first move herself and Sharon hated herself for it but she couldn't stand the cold any longer. She was prepared to cuddle up to Brenda Leigh Johnson in a freezer full of dead bodies if all it meant she wouldn't have to see another puff of her own breath in the air.

"Alright," Sharon said and Brenda turned her head.

"Alright what?" she asked, puzzled.

"Body heat," Sharon begrudgingly clarified. "I'll do it."

Brenda arched an eyebrow and didn't move so Sharon slowly inched closer towards the blonde Deputy Chief and shivered when her hand encountered Brenda's. They both hesitated for a moment or two, surprised by the touch, and for the longest of moments they tried to make sense of what had just happened. Sharon thought the cold had to be getting to them and she moved a little closer until her hip and shoulder touched Brenda's.

After another moment's hesitation, the younger woman's arm slipped almost effortlessly around the Captain's shoulders and Sharon found herself easing into Brenda's somewhat clumsy embrace. Their bodies moulded surprisingly well together as they wrapped themselves around each other as best they could. With her free hand, Brenda reached for Sharon's and took it. Their fingers laced together in a strange twist of comfort and to Sharon's surprise, Brenda's hand was not only warm, it was also soft.

"How long do you think it'll be till they realise we're gone?" Brenda wondered. She didn't look at Sharon and she was aware they had already asked that question but she didn't know what else to say. Anything was better than total silence.

"No idea," Sharon admitted. "Where did you send your team this morning?"

"Canvassing," Brenda answered softly. "Hopefully they won't be long."

The silence neither of them wanted fell anyway and Sharon rested her head against the wall. Her breath hitched when Brenda turned herself towards her, pressing herself a little firmer against Sharon's body. Sharon almost lost the ability to think, her brain polluted by the scent of the Chief's perfume. That smell had always been irresistible, even if that was one of the crazies and stupidest things Sharon had ever thought.

She turned her head a little, her chin now almost against Brenda's cheek. She had to admit that the Chief was right. Sitting closely together helped to keep warm. But unfortunately that wasn't all it did. Maybe it was the fact the cold was messing with her head or maybe she was just glad that she wasn't alone in this room filled with dead bodies, but Sharon was acutely aware of her racing heart.

Brenda tried to control her breathing. Having moved closer to Sharon had been a natural reaction but now that she had, it felt like a mistake yet she did nothing to change it. She was cold and being this close to the other woman triggered something she hadn't even been aware of until now.

Sharon closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself but yelped when Brenda moved even closer, effectively resting her head on Sharon's shoulder. The older woman stiffened when Brenda's arm snaked around her waist.

"Chief?" Sharon squeaked.

"Hmmm?"

"What're you doing?"

"Keepin' warm." Brenda lifted her head up and intense brown eyes found green. Something had changed in the blonde's demeanour, Sharon noticed. "Why do we always fight?"

Sharon blinked. "What?"

"Why do we always fight? I don't fight like that with anyone else. Only with you. Why?"

"Because you're stubborn and you don't like admitting you're wrong."

Brenda pulled away, insulted. Sharon immediately missed the closeness.

"That's not true."

Sharon arched an eyebrow in amusement and grinned. Brenda had just made her point for her.

"I don't like it when you're tellin' me what to do," Brenda said and leaned back into Sharon. "You're always bossin' me around."

"I'm not doing anything of the sort," Sharon countered, her voice softer now and carrying the undertone of humour. "You just think I do because you don't like it when things don't go the way you want them to. You can't change the law, Chief."

"No one winds me up the way you do."

Sharon had to admit that the feeling was mutual, though she guessed the reason for it was altogether different. She carefully reached up and let a blonde curl slide through her fingers. Brenda didn't move, didn't pull away, so Sharon repeated the action with another curl. This time the younger woman turned her head and their gazes locked.

"I wonder why you're getting' to me so much," Brenda said softly.

"Why do you think?"

Brenda moved closer before Sharon realised and kissed her. Softy. Sweetly. It was the kiss of someone who was nervous. It was over before it had even begun and when Sharon opened her eyes she wasn't even sure it had happened at all. But Brenda nestled herself a little deeper into Sharon and hummed contently when she felt Sharon's fingers in her hair. She smiled to herself.

"I think I know."

Somehow Sharon didn't feel cold anymore.

~()~

"You think they've been in there long enough?" Morales glanced at his watch. "It's been almost forty minutes."

"I'd say we give them the full hour," Provenza answered and he looked at Flynn. "What do you think?"

"Lieutenant, it is below freezing in there. I really don't think we should leave them in there any longer than we already have," Morales protested. "If you don't let them out now, I will."

Provenza grumbled but nodded anyway. "Flynn!"

"What?" Flynn asked. "Why me?"

"Did you really think I was going to do it myself and have those two rip my head off?" Provenza shook his head. "You go and tell them it was an accident. They'll believe it when it's coming from you."

Flynn groaned in frustration but he entered the morgue anyway and approached the freezer. He assumed the fact he didn't hear yelling or see blood spatter across the little window was a good thing and when he turned the door handle and opened the door, he was surprised to find the two women sitting on opposite sides of the freezer.

"Lieutenant Flynn!" Brenda barked when she saw him and leapt to her feet. Blazing brown eyes fixed on him before darting back to Sharon. "I told you my detectives would find us."

"They needed almost an hour to locate their superior officer. I fail to see how this is supposed to fill me with any confidence," Sharon countered as she too stood up.

Andy watched, slightly horrified, as the two women left the freezer and continued bickering and arguing as he closed the door behind them. Brenda and Sharon walked through the morgue, their voices raised, and Sharon opened the door. Provenza and Morales were waiting and the older Lieutenant looked hopefully at Flynn but Flynn merely shook his head.

"Capt'n, I have every confidence in my detectives!" Brenda said, placing her hands on her hips.

Sharon cocked an eyebrow. "At least someone does."

Provenza stared at the two women, horrified. "Are you kidding me?! All of that and they're still fighting?!" he said softly to Flynn.

"Something the matter, Lieutenant?" Brenda sweetly asked and he shook his head. "Alright. Run along then, all of you." She watched him and Flynn walk away.

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Flynn hissed as he opened the door.

"Oh shut up. You were perfectly happy to go along with it!"

"This is the last time I let you talk me into something stupid."

"That's what you said last time."

The door closed behind the two Lieutenants and Brenda focused on Morales. "We didn't find your body, Doctor."

"That's alright. I wrote the numbers down wrong anyway," he smiled weakly. "Have a nice day, Chief. Captain." He muttered sheepishly as he fled the room. That was the last time he would let Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza talk him into anything like that ever again.

Once he was gone, Brenda looked at Sharon and smirked. "I told you, they were all in it together."

"Oh, absolutely," Sharon grinned. At this point she just wanted to give them a taste of their own medicine. They could always deal with the consequences of their actions at a later date. "So, how long should we keep this up?"

Brenda leaned in a little and tucked a strand of hair behind Sharon's ear. "Oh I don't know, Capt'n. As long as we like."

Brenda gave Sharon a little wink before following her out of the morgue.


End file.
